Minister Gatt unmoved by 'not guilty' verdict

Infrastructure, Transport and Communications Minister Austin Gatt has stuck to his guns over an accusation he made that a Central Bank manager passed confidential information to the Labour Party (PL) even though the person has been absolved by an internal inquiry.

Speaking in Parliament last November, Dr Gatt had accused Sandro Demarco of passing on to the PL confidential HCIP (Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices) data the bank forwards to the European Central Bank.

To prove his point, the minister had presented a print-out of the properties page of an electronic document distributed by the PL. The properties page identified a Sandro Demarco as the originator of the document.

Asked whether he would now apologise for his scathing attack in Parliament, Dr Gatt said yesterday: "I published the properties page of the Labour document showing Mr Demarco as the author. The Labour leader declared that the same person was 'consulted'. I do not need to add anything else".

Labour leader Joseph Muscat had denied that Mr Demarco actually passed on confidential information. The news that Mr Demarco has been cleared was broken by the media and confirmed by his union, the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin.

The Times has learnt that Mr Demarco is still subject to an ongoing investigation by the internal audit team of the Central Bank, which is considering whether he breached bank procedures when offering advice to the PL.

The Central Bank would not reveal details of the conclusions reached so far by the investigation.

"Two facts needed to be established by the investigation: first whether confidential information had been divulged and, second, whether, as a result of his actions, the staff member had breached the Bank's internal rules," a spokesman for the Central Bank said.

"The first part of the investigation has been concluded but the second question, relating to a possible breach of the Bank's internal rules, still requires an answer."

The Central Bank said the second part of the investigation was following the procedure detailed in the collective agreement.

"Unfortunately, the process has been delayed by circumstances beyond the control of the Bank. A full statement about the conclusions of the entire investigation will be issued when the second part of the process has been completed," it said.

The Central Bank had initiated an investigation on November 20, two days after Dr Gatt's statement in Parliament.